Chapter 108

“I’m going to be away for a while, so you guys should keep a low profile and don’t make a scene in the family building like last time.”

Lu Desheng reminded him earnestly that after going to Jiangcheng for the meeting, he would apply to go to the cadre school. The couple were crazy, so they should not make a scene.

“We never cause trouble, but we are not afraid of it either, don’t worry, Dad.”

Ruan Qiqi assured him sincerely, and what she said was also true.

Even though she was a crazy woman, she never took the initiative to bully others, and always passively fought back!

It’s just that she fought back a little harder.

“You guys go back!”

Lu Desheng suddenly felt tired, and he and these two rebellious sons couldn’t make it clear at all.

If it rains, the mother wants to get married, let him do it!

Anyway, all the people in the military region combined are not as crazy as these two rebellious sons.

Ruan Qiqi took a huge sum of 10,000 yuan and went to buy vegetables happily with Lu Ye. With 10,000 yuan, the vegetable basket would be free early.

Chicken, duck, fish, meat, a lot of everything was bought. The meat coupons obtained from Shi Jinghong were about to expire, so they had to spend them quickly.

The two returned home with a full load, and the women chatting downstairs were all furious.

There were meat dishes every day, how could the couple eat so well?

“Sister Ruan, why did you buy so much meat again?”

“Lu Ye and I like to eat meat.”

Ruan Qiqi smiled.

“Sister, you are really joking. Who doesn’t like to eat meat? We also want to eat it, but we don’t have meat coupons. Each person is only supplied with half a catty of meat per month. There are five people in our family, and two and a half catties of meat is not enough.”

The woman who asked the question smiled bitterly. The three children were all growing up, and the half-grown boys were eating their parents out of money. With three half-grown boys, the family’s savings were all eaten and worn out. The monthly food supply was not enough to eat, and they had to spend money to buy it on the black market. Alas.

“Don’t complain, my family only has half a pound of meat supply, and I didn’t complain!”

Wang Shuhua joked. She and her three children are all registered in the countryside, and only her husband has meat coupons. Life is very tight.

But for the future of her children, she would rather live a hard life in the city than go back to the countryside.

“Why is there only half a pound of meat coupons in your family?”

Ruan Qiqi was a little curious. She had a good impression of Wang Shuhua. She was not a nosy person and had her own opinions.

When Ji Xianglian and Shang Lehua gossiped about her, Wang Shuhua did not participate and even spoke for her. However, her words in the family building were not important, and the military wives all listened to Ji Xianglian.

“Shuhua is not qualified to follow the army. She and her children are still registered in the countryside.” Someone helped to explain, with a little contempt in the tone.

After all, they are all military wives who follow the army. Even if the military region does not arrange jobs, they will receive a living allowance of five yuan per month. Moreover, she and her children eat commercial grain and have supplies every month. Their lives are much more comfortable than Wang Shuhua’s family.

Unlike Wang Shuhua, she only boiled the dishes and added a drop of oil after they were cooked. The dishes were watery and the children were all pale and thin. She was the one who had the hardest life in the family building.

Although Wang Shuhua was still smiling, there was more bitterness in her smile. In fact, she knew that these people looked down on her. Sometimes they said it unintentionally, and sometimes they said it intentionally. They were all derogatory towards her.

She was not a fool, so how could she not hear it? But she just pretended not to understand. Her husband was in a critical period in the past two years. She could not hold him back. She had to endure it as much as she could.

Moreover, no matter how hard it was here, it was not half as hard as in her hometown. Wang Shuhua was quite content with her current life. If her husband could be promoted, she would have no regrets in her life.

“My husband is a company commander, and he has not reached the required military service. I am just staying here temporarily.”

Wang Shuhua took the initiative to explain, neither humble nor arrogant.

Ruan Qiqi did not understand the conditions for following the army, but she knew that these women looked down on Wang Shuhua, so she suddenly wanted to annoy them.

“Your husband is Lu Ye’s comrade-in-arms. The friendship between comrades-in-arms lasts a lifetime. This piece of meat is for you!”

Ruan Qiqi had a knife in her hand. She cut a piece of fat meat weighing a pound and stuffed it into Wang Shuhua’s hand. She read in the period novels that people now love to eat big fat pieces of meat.

“Oh, how can this be? Take it back quickly. Thank you!”

Wang Shuhua was shocked. There was so much meat. It was her family’s supply for two months. She couldn’t accept it.

Ruan Qiqi was unhappy. “Do you dislike my meat?”

“Of course not, sister Ruan, I appreciate your kindness, but I really can’t accept this meat. Take it back quickly.”

Wang Shuhua smiled helplessly. She couldn’t afford to accept such a big piece of meat for no reason.

“But I just want to give you the meat. Ji Xianglian and others used to gossip about me before, and you spoke for me. Take it.”

She forcefully stuffed the meat into Wang Shuhua’s hand, and her tone did not allow rejection, just like a domineering president, but lacked a wicked smile.

Wang Shuhua was stunned. She didn’t expect that she had only said a few fair words, but Ruan Qiqi knew about it. She felt warm in her heart. She thought Ruan Qiqi was actually easy to get along with. How could a person who could repay kindness be difficult to get along with?

“Why hasn’t Captain Peng been promoted yet?”

Lu Ye frowned slightly. He remembered that Captain Peng had been the captain for six years. In terms of seniority and ability, he should have been promoted long ago.

“My old Peng still needs to learn.”

Wang Shuhua answered very officially, but she felt very bitter in her heart.

Because her husband had two opportunities to be promoted. In terms of seniority and ability, her husband was better, but each time someone who was not as good as her old Peng was promoted. In the final analysis, it was because her old Peng had no background.

“Take the meat. I’ve eaten your dumplings before. They are delicious.”

Lu Ye cut another piece of lean meat, which weighed about two kilograms with the fat meat. He stuffed it into Wang Shuhua’s hand and then took Ruan Qiqi upstairs.

By the time Wang Shuhua realized what was happening, the two men had already gone upstairs. The meat in their hands was heavy, the fat was shiny, and the lean meat was bright red. Although it was raw, it still made her drool.

Not to mention the children were greedy, she was greedy too!

“Shuhua, when did you and Deputy Battalion Commander Lu become so close? Have you ever eaten at your house?”

Everyone was very curious and a little regretful. They didn’t expect Wang Shuhua to be so secretive and have such a relationship with Lu Ye. If they had known, they would have been more polite to Wang Shuhua.

“I don’t remember anything. I have to ask my husband Peng.”

Wang Shuhua told the truth. She really couldn’t remember.

And she thought that Lu Ye might have said that on purpose because he was afraid that she would be embarrassed to accept the meat.

People in the building said that Deputy Battalion Commander Lu and Ruan Qiqi were a crazy couple, but she felt that the couple were very good and warm people.

“Shuhua, your husband Peng has become rich, but don’t forget us sisters!”

The other women’s tone was a little sour. In the past, when they were with Wang Shuhua, they all had a sense of superiority and spoke in a condescending tone. Now that Wang Shuhua and her husband have hooked up with Lu Ye, they will definitely be very successful in the military region in the future. Instead, they have to curry favor with Wang Shuhua.

“What a joke, Deputy Battalion Commander Lu and Xiao Ruan are kind-hearted. They pity my children and give them meat. What are you thinking?”

Wang Shuhua knew that no one would believe her, but she still had to say it. It’s up to them whether they believe it or not.

“I’m going home to cook.”

Wang Shuhua didn’t even sew her shoes, and took the meat home. Her family of five lived on the first floor, with only one room. Although it was crowded, she kept it in order. Cooking and washing clothes were all done in the corridor. The room was divided into two halves. She and her husband lived in the inner room, and there was a bunk bed in the outer room, and a folding bed for the three children.

It was okay when the children were young, but now they are older, especially the daughter who is about to grow up. It is inconvenient to sleep in the same room with her two brothers. This is also the main reason why Wang Shuhua is anxious for her husband to be promoted.

As long as he is promoted, she and her children will be eligible to follow the army. At that time, not only can they be allocated an extra room, but she and her children can also eat commercial grain, and she can also arrange a job, so life will be better.

That night, on the dining table of the Peng family, there was a large plate of fried pork with white peppers. It was all fat slices, and only half of the meat slices were fried with oil, shining with an attractive oily sheen, which made people drool.

Wang Shuhua also made some dumplings. There was not much white flour at home, so she made a few. She made a large bowl of pork and cabbage stuffing, and only one bowl was left for the family of five.

“You don’t want to live like this? Wang Shuhua, are you going to go your separate ways after this meal?” Before

Captain Peng even arrived at the door of his house, he smelled the aroma of meat from a distance. He thought it was Lu Ye’s again, and secretly cursed Lu Ye for being a bad person and eating meat every day to seduce him.

As a result, he saw a large plate of meat on his table, all of which were fat slices, more than the meat during the Chinese New Year. Captain Peng swallowed hard and joked humorously.

He is from Shaocheng, Hunan Province. He is of medium height, dark complexion, kind and humorous, down-to-earth and hardworking, eager to help others, and has a very good relationship with people in the army. The only thing he lacks is his background. Captain

Peng is a native farmer’s son. His family is very poor. He can become a company commander with more efforts and blood and sweat than others, almost at the cost of his life.

But in the army, it is very difficult for a company commander to move up. One is luck, the second is relationships, and the third is strength. All three are indispensable. If you can’t get these three together, you can only wait for seniority.

Captain Peng also knows this very well, so now he only hopes to get through it. No matter what, he must let his wife and children eat commercial grain, otherwise he really won’t be willing.

[Children in the 1970s and 1980s followed their mothers’ household registration. If Wang Shuhua could not follow the army, she would have a rural household registration. This was also the reason why her husband worked hard in the army, all for the future of the children]

“Mom, are we going to make ends meet?”

Captain Peng had just finished joking when their eldest son Peng Haijun came back, carrying a washed-out military green schoolbag across his shoulder and holding a bundle of firewood for the family.

Schoolbags were popular at the time.

Every time they went home from school, the three siblings would pick up a bundle of firewood and bring it back, so that the family could save money on coal.

“What are you yelling about? Where are the oceans and starfish?”

Wang Shuhua picked up a piece of fat meat and stuffed it into her eldest son’s mouth, and fed her husband a piece as well.

“It smells so good… It smells so good!”

Peng Haijun was reluctant to finish it in one bite. He held the meat in his mouth, closed his eyes, and looked very happy.

Captain Peng was also reluctant to eat it and wanted to put it back on the plate, “Let’s eat it when the children come back.”

The children were growing up and had to eat more. He was old and it didn’t make much difference whether he ate or not.

“There’s so much meat, are you going to eat it?”

Wang Shuhua glared at him. Captain Peng smiled and picked up a piece of meat and fed her, “You work the hardest, eat more!”

“I ate it when I was cooking, you should eat it quickly, by the way, I want to ask you something.”

Wang Shuhua didn’t eat it, and fed it to her husband again. In the end, the piece of meat returned to the plate, and neither of them ate it.

“This meat was given by Deputy Battalion Commander Lu and Sister Ruan. They gave two kilograms. Deputy Battalion Commander Lu said that he had eaten dumplings from our family before, but I don’t remember it at all?”

Wang Shuhua showed the remaining meat to her husband. She fried half a kilogram of fat meat and made some dumplings. There were still seven or eight taels of meat left, which could be eaten for several meals.

“Why did you give so much meat? You shouldn’t have taken it.”

Captain Peng frowned. His wife didn’t do it properly this time. How could she take so much meat? It would cause gossip.

“They forced it on me, and I didn’t have time to return it. You can send this bowl of dumplings to the Lu family later. They are stuffed with pork and cabbage.”

Wang Shuhua felt a little wronged. She had always been very careful in the family building, not offending anyone, and not forming cliques with others. This time the meat was really a surprise.

“I’ll send it over later.”

Captain Peng didn’t say anything else. He knew his wife well, and she was definitely not taking advantage of him. Lu Ye and his wife always acted on their own, so maybe they were inspired again this time?

“What about the dumplings?” Wang Shuhua was very curious.